Domestic appliance



Oct. 1, 1957 K. K. KESLING ETAL DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Filed Sept. 8, 1955 Swas m w e .9 H Kw u Hm ea 6 KJ V. B

b .H ll ll l The/r A forney United States Patent Office 2,808,497Patented Oct. 1, 1957 DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Keith K. Kesling and James W.Jacobs, Dayton, Ohio, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit,Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application September 8, 1955, SerialNo. 533,082

7 Claims. (Cl. 219-37) This invention relates to a domestic applianceand more particularly to controls for the surface heaters of domesticranges.

. vIt has been found that small children often manipulate the controlsfor surface heaters of domestic ranges. It is possible for children tobe burned if they touch a surface heater when it is turned on.

It is an object of this invention to provide a practical concealedcontrol arrangement which is readily and conveniently usable by thehousewife but which will be concealed and protected in such a way thatit cannot be manipulated by children.

These and other objects are attained in the form shown in the drawingsin which the upper portion of the front of the range pivots outwardly tomake accessible an upwardly facing control panel which controls thevarious surfaces heaters upon the range top. When not in use, this paneland the upper front wall portion arepushed back to conceal the controlsbeneath the range top. The upper front wall portion and the panel areprovided with a latch which retains the pivoted assembly in theconcealed position until released by a releasing mechanism placed in theupper central portion of the back of the range top where it issubstantially inaccessible to small children.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention wil be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In 'the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a domestic range embodying one form ofmy invention; and,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the range shown in Figure1.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown a domestic range and ovenincluding a rectangular sheet metal cabinet 20 provided with an 'ovendoor 22 in the front wall with a kickplate 24 beneath. The cabinet isprovided'with a range top 26 containing four surface heaters 28 andhaving a rear back splash portion 30. The surface heaters 28 may becontrolled by four identical surface heater controls 32. To concealthese controls they are mounted upon a control panel 34 which extendsrearwardly at an acute downwardly extending angle from the rear face ofa front panel 36. This front panel forms a part of the front wall of thecabinet 20 and extends in the horizontal direction between the sides ofthe cabinet 20 and between the oven door 22 and the front of the rangetop 26 in the vertical direction. This panel 36 may be provided with asuitable centrally located handle 38.

Adjacent the lower edge of the panel 36 is a pivot pin connection 46 tothe side walls of the cabinet 20. This allows the control panel 34 andthe front panel 36 to pivot outwardly to the dot-dash line positionshown in Figure 2 and to the full line position shown in Figure 1 sothat the controls 32 are readily accessible. The controls 32 include abox shaped structure 42 containing a thermostatic control mechanismwhich is fastened to the control panel 34. The controls 32 each have amanipulating knob 44 above the control panel 34.

Preferably all or at least some of the surface heaters 28 are providedwith a thermostatic control. Each thermostatic control includes acapillary tube 46 extending downwardly from the casing 42 and providedwith a coiled portion 48 adjacent the pivot 40 to provide the necessaryflexibility to allow the pivoting of the control panel The capillarytube 46 extends to a resiliently mounted thermostat bulb provided in thecenter of the surface heater unit 28 in a manner similar to that shownin the Weber et a1. Patent No. 2,303,012, issued November 24, 1942. Eachsurface heater unit 28 has its terminal portion 52 connected by flexibleelectrical conductors 54 to suitable switches with the casing 42. Otherflexible conductors 55 extend from each casing 42 to the power supply.in this way, the heating of each surface heater 28 is controlled by athermostatic control mechanism within each casing 42.

The panel 36 has a rear wall portion 56, provided with a keeper 58,cooperating with a pivoted latch member 60. The pivoted latch member 60will automatically engage and hold the keeper 58 whenever the panel 36is moved inwardly to the full line position in Figure 2. This latch 6i)is connected by the rod 62 to the lower end of the lever 64 pivoted uponthe pivot pin 66. The upper end of the lever 64 connects to the rod andknob 68 projecting from the front of the back splash portion 30.

When it is desired to use one of the surface heaters 28, the handle androd 68 are pulled to raise the latch 60 to allow the control to moveoutwardly. The rear part 56 of the panel 36 is pivotally connected to arod 70 which extends through the wall 72 of the recess which receivesthe control panel 34. Threaded on this rod 70 between the wall 72 andthe member 56 is a compression type coiled spring 74 which urges thecontrol panel 36 outwardly so that it will move automatically to theposition shown in Figure 1 whenever the handle 68 is pulled. The rod 70is provided with a second spring 78 held by the head 89 upon the rod toyieldingly limit the out ward movement of the panel 36 to the positionshown in Figure 1. This makes the control panel readily availablewhenever it is desired to use any one of the surface heaters 28. Whenuse of the surface units 28 is completed the control panel 36 may bepushed rearwardly to again engage the latch 60. The controls and thecontrol panel are then inaccessible to small children since they are notable to reach the release handle 68. In this way the children areprotected.

Whiie the form of embodiment of the invention as he ein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A domestic range including a cabinet provided with a range top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front wall portion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face of said front wall portion being provided with an upwardlyfacing control panel extending beneath and concealed by the range topwhen said front wall portion is in its inward position, said range topbeing provided with a plurality of surface heaters, said control panelbeing provided with individual control means having manipulating meansprojecting upwardly from the panel, one of said surface heaters beingprovided with a thermostat control adapted to contact and be responsiveto a receptacle supported upon the heater, and connecting meansextending from said thermostat control and said one surface heater toone of said control means and from the other surface heaters to theother control means.

2. A domestic range including a cabinet provided with a range top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front wall por tion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face of said front wall portion being provided with an upwardlyfacing control panel extending beneath and concealed by the range topwhen said front wall portion is in its inward position, said range topbeing provided with a plurality of surface heaters, said control panelbeing provided with individual control means having manipulating meansprojecting upwardly from the panel, and means operably connecting eachof said surface heaters to one of said control means, said range topbeing provided with a back splash portion, latch means for latching saidfront wall portion in its inward position, and reease means for saidlatch means including a manipulating means mounted upon said back splashportion.

3. A domestic range including a cabinet provided with a range top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front wall portion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face of said front wall portion being provided with an upwardlyfacing control panel extending beneath and concealed by the range topwhen said front wall portion is in its inward position, said range topbeing provided with a plurality of surface heaters, said control panelbeing provided with individual control means having manipulating meansprojecting upwardly from the panel, and means operably connecting eachof said surface heaters to one of said control means, said range topbeing provided with a back splash portion, spring means for urging saidfront wall portion outwardly, latch means for latching said front wallportion in its inward position, and release means for said latch meansincluding a manipulating means mounted upon said back splash portion.

4. A domestic range including a cabinet provided with a range top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front wall portion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face of said front wall portion being provided with an upwardlyfacing control ,panel extending beneath and concealed by the range topwhen said front wall portion is in its inward position, said range topbeing provided with a plurality of surface heaters, said control panelbeing provided with individual control means having manipulating meansprojecting upwardly from the panel, and means operably connecting eachof said surface heaters to one of said control means, said range topbeing provided with a back splash portion, spring means for urging saidfront wall portion outwardly, means for limiting the outward movement ofsaid front wall portion, latch means for latching said front Wallportion in its inward position and release means for said latch meansincluding a manipulating means mounted upon said back splash portion.

5. A domestic rangeincluding a cabinet provided with a range top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front wall portion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face of said front wall portion having as a rearwardly extendingpart thereof an upwardly facing control panel extending beneath andconcealed by the range top when said front wall portion is in its inwardposition, stop means for stopping the forward movement of said frontwall portion and said control panel when substantially all of saidcontrol panel is exposed, said range top being provided with a pluralityof surface heaters, said control panel being provided with individualcontrol means having manipulating means projecting upwardly from thepanel, and means operably connecting each of said surface heaters to oneof said control means.

6. A domestic range including a cabinet provided with a range top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front wall portion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face of said front wall portion having as a rearwardly extendingpart thereof an upwardly facing control panel extending beneath andconcealed by the range top when said front wall portion is in its inwardposition, stop means for stopping the forward movement of said frontwall portion and said control panel when substantially all of saidcontrol panel is exposed, said range top being provided with. aplurality of surface heaters, said control panel being provided withindividual control means having manipulating means projecting upwardlyfrom the panel, and means operably connecting each of said surfaceheaters to one of said control means, spring means for propelling saidpivoted wall portion forwardly, and manually releasable latch means forholding said wall portion in its inward position.

7. A domestic range including'a cabinet provided with a range-top, saidcabinet having a pivoted front wall portion immediately below said rangetop, said front Wall portion being pivoted adjacent its lower edge, therear face-of said'front wall portion having as a rearwardlyextendingrpart thereof an upwardly facing control panel extendingbeneathand concealed by the range top when said front wall portion is in itsinward position, spring stop means for resiliently stopping the forwardmovement of said front wall portion and said control panel whensubstantially all of said control panel is exposed, said range top beingprovided with a plurality of surface heaters, said control panel beingprovided with individual control means having manipulating meansprojecting upwardly from the panel, and means operably connecting eachof saidvsurface heaters to one of said control means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

